USS Abraham Lincoln visakhapatnam l sunday l august 16, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION U.S. pulls last aircraft carrier in Asia to support Iran ops The new warship is expected to relieve USS Abraham Lincoln in West Asia amid growing concerns about the mental health of its sailors Deteriorating conditions aboard U.S. ship No U.S. Aircraft carrier to tackle China The announcement of USS George Washington’s departure from the western Pacific comes a day after President Donald Trump downplayed the concerns about the situation aboard USS Abraham Lincoln. There have been reports of sailors attempting to jump off the ship amid food shortages, lack of hygiene supplies, and exhaustion due to long duty hours ■ ■ Lincoln departed California in November 2025 for duty in the South China Sea and was rerouted to West Asia before the start of the Iran war. It has been on a record-breaking deployment of nine months Meanwhile, the departure of Washington from the western Pacific cuts the US presence there amid aggressive manoeuvres by China 5,000 Sailors are aboard USS Abraham lincoln CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Raps Naxal mindset, announces plan to train 1 cr youth in AI skills within a year, free online coaching network for competitive exams PM seeks help on women’s quota in I-Day address 50 times. The PM described the @ New Delhi youth as the driving force and the greatest beneficiaries of Prime Minister Narendra ‘Viksit Bharat’. “Therefore, we Modi on Saturday reiterated must take forward the goal of his call to all political parties to ‘Viksit Bharat’ by connecting it support reservation for women with the aspirations and parin legislatures, called for ticipation of our youth,” he stronger youth participation in asserted. nation building, announced a Modi spoke about various clutch of skilling schemes, and initiatives to empower the lit into what he called were the youth, including Skill India, “dimagi Naxals” or people with opening the space sector, the a Naxalite mindset. National Drone Policy, Khelo Highlighting India and the Nawomen’s growing tional Education participation in pubPolicy The govern. lic life in his Indement, he said, pendence Day ad- The time is ours, would train one dress from Red Fort, the resolve is ours, crore young people the prime minister let us convert our in AI skills over the said, “Let us step next year and estabdreams into forward to ensure lish a free online resolve, resolve coaching network that our mothers and sisters secure into strength and for competitive ex33% representation ams. He also highstrength into in the Legislative lighted a `1 lakh success Assemblies and the crore Innovation Narendra Modi, PM Lok Sabha soon.” Fund to suppor t On Naxalism, he young innovators. said armed Naxals had been The PM also urged the youth eliminated but “dimagi Nax- to participate actively in the als” continue to seek opportu- ongoing Census by helping nities to create anarchy and their families understand the violence. “We must identify forms and ensure that informathose with a Naxal mindset, tion submitted is accurate. isolate them, and steer the naThe PM also outlined a sevtion’s youth toward the main- en-point ‘Saptadhara’ roadmap stream effort of transforming for development covering manIndia into a developed nation,” ufacturing, power, agriculture the PM asserted. and food processing, technoloThe prime focus of his 75- gy and innovation, Gati Shakti, minute address was the youth; defence, the green and blue he referred to them more than economies, and soft power. P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi The national song, Vande Mataram, was sung in full during the Congress’s Independence Day celebrations at its Indira Bhavan headquarters in the capital on Saturday, marking a departure from its stated position that only the first two stanzas should be rendered. The event sparked a row after a video on social media appeared to show Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge gesturing to workers to stop the rendition beyond the first two stanzas. While the BJP latching on , to it, accused Sonia of objecting to singing the full version of the song, the Congress said there was no attempt to do so. Sonia was only asking for a chair for Kharge, as he had been standing for a while, said Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh. The national song has been at the centre of a debate, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi repeatedly targeting the Congress for truncating the song. The Congress has traditionally supported the rendition of its first two stanzas, with objections historically being raised to the religious imagery contained in the remaining stanzas. The party has always maintained that the CWC had in 1937 decided, on Tagore’s advice, that only the first two stanzas would be sung in official functions. SHANti ACT Draft rules on pvt N-plant liability out J aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu addressing the Independence Day Parade at Rayapudi | Prasant Madugula First I-Day fete in Capital Amaravati RA J ESH K U M AR THA K UR Row over full Vande Mataram rendition at Congress HQ Naidu urges people to realise Modi’s Viksit Bharat Vision P h a n i n d r a Pa pa s a n i @ Vijayawada The State government organised the Independence Day celebrations in Capital Amaravati for the first time on Saturday . Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu hoisted the national flag at the Parade Ground in Rayapudi. “Swarna Andhra2047” was the theme of the 80th Independence Day celebrations. Addressing a gathering after receiving the guard of honour from police, the Chief Minister described the Tricolour a symbol of freedom, self-respect and national unity . India achieved Independence through decades of struggle and the sacrifices of several generations of freedom fighters and martyrs, he said, and recalled the contribution of the Telugu-speaking region to the freedom movement The Chief Minister said the NDA government had taken the responsibility of rebuilding the State after what he described as five years of “destruction” under the preP4 vious regime.  Narendra Modi hoists the Tricolour at Red Fort during the 80th Independence Day event in New Delhi on Saturday | PTI Best tableau The School Education Department’s Samagra Shiksha tableau, carrying the message “Educational Revolution for Viksit Bharat”, won the first prize in the Independence Day parade, in which 25 departments participated As the government moves to operationalise the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy (SHANTI) Act, 2025, which opens the strategically critical nuclear power sector to greater private-sector participation, its draft rules seek to establish a clearer framework for operator liability financial protection and the deployment of , foreign reactors while retaining long-term regulatory oversight. The draft rules, released by the Department of Atomic Energy require nuclear plant operators to , maintain an insurance policy, financial security or a combination of both to cover nuclear damage. The draft rules also provide for a periodic review of operator liability and prescribe conditions for foreign reactor technology. The Centre will constitute, once in every five years, a group of experts to review the maximum limits of an operator’s civil liability for nuclear damage. For a nuclear power plant or reactor based on a foreign design, the design must be certified or approved by the regulatory authority in the country of origin. The rules define the “country of origin” as a country that is self-reliant in nuclear reactor design and the supply-chain ecosystem and whose regulatory approvals are trusted globally . Such a plant or reactor must also be operational either in the country of origin or in another foreign country The financial security required from . operators will have to remain in place until all spent fuel is removed from the relevant storage pool. The provision extends the operator’s financial protection obligations beyond the operational phase of the nuclear facility . WITH THIS ISSUE Thirst Aid PLUS 12 P AGES e x p r e ss r e a d Solar plant in Kurnool Kurnool: Agastya Green Energy Limited has announced an investment of `7,800 cr to set up a solar plant in Kurnool | P4